A telescopic handler or telehandler is a machine which is popular within the construction and agriculture businesses. These machines are similar in function and appearance to a lift truck or a forklift but are actually more similar to a crane rather than a forklift. The telehandler provides increased versatility of a single telescopic boom that could extend forwards and upwards from the vehicle. The operator can attach lots of attachments on the boom's end. Some of the most popular attachments consist of: a bucket, a muck grab, pallet forks or a lift table.
To be able to transport loads through locations which are normally unreachable for a standard forklift. The telehandler uses pallet forks as their most common attachment. For instance, telehandlers are able to move loads to and from locations that are not usually accessible by regular forklift units. These devices can also remove palletized cargo from within a trailer and position these loads in high areas, like on rooftops for example. Previously, this aforementioned situation will require a crane. Cranes can be very pricey to utilize and not always a practical or time-efficient option.
Telehandler's are unique in that their advantage is also their largest drawback: since the boom extends or raises when the machine is bearing a load, it also acts as a lever and causes the vehicle to become somewhat unbalanced, even with the counterweights on the rear. This translates to the lifting capacity decreasing fast as the working radius increases. The working radius is the distance between the center of the load and the front of the wheels.
For instance, a vehicle which has a 5000 pound capacity with the boom retracted might be able to safely lift only as much as 400 lb. once it is completely extended with a low boom angle. The same unit with a 5000 lb. lift capacity that has the boom retracted might be able to easily support as much as 10,000 lb. with the boom raised up to 70.
England first pioneered the telehandler in Horley, Surrey. The Matbro Company developed these machines from their articulated cross country forestry forklifts. Initially, they had a centrally mounted boom design on the front portion. This placed the cab of the driver on the equipment's rear portion, as in the Teleram 40 unit. The rigid chassis design with a rear mounted boom and the cab located on the side has since become more popular.